Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.As I noted in last Friday's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog, recently, while preparing for a workshop presentation on using the Web to find "primary" sources to support historical research, I ran across a couple of fascinating Pelham-related items in the "Witness

Monday, March 30, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Recently, while preparing for a workshop presentation on using the Web to find "primary" sources to support historical research, I ran across a couple of fascinating Pelham-related items in the "Witness to Early American Experience" collection developed jointly by

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Today more than ever before, healthcare professionals are under great pressure to practice the art and science of medicine according to pragmatic ideologies that fail to protect their rights of conscience. This is largely because patient autonomy (not something bad in itself), has been crowned as the highest bioethical principle. Unfortunately, the notion of autonomy has falsely come to be equated to the concept of human dignity. As a child in the womb is seen by some not to have any worth, so a woman who lacks autonomy may be perceived by some to have been stripped of her dignity. This ofcourse, is nonsense. The dignity of a person is not an add-on, it is inherent because that person belongs to the human species and therefore, regardless of their being or not autonomous, that person is worthy of respect.Respect for the person also implies respect for their integrity; this respect is due to the body and to the spirit. Thus, just as it would be wrong to physically harm a person's body, so it is wrong to attack their spirit. This applies in a special way to healthcare workers who are being forced to act against the dictates of their conscience when the perceived rights of patients to non-lifethreatening, non-lifesaving "needs" are forced upon them.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.As I have written many times before, the history of St. Paul's Church of Eastchester, now a National Historic Site, is closely entertwined with that of the Town of Pelham. Consequently, I often have written about the history of the church here. For a few of many

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.The history of St. Paul's Church of Eastchester, now a National Historic Site, is closely entertwined with that of the Town of Pelham. Consequently, I often have written about the history of the church here. For a few of many examples, see:Thursday, November 8,

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Occasionally I have written about the "Toonerville Trolley" and its ties to Pelham. For a few examples, see:Mon., March 5, 2007: An Ode to the Toonerville Trolley and Its Skipper Published in 1921.Wed., November 15, 2006: Another Letter by Fontaine Fox Describing

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Below is an interesting photograph that shows visitors streaming across the causeway to Travers Island in Pelham Manor in 1897 to attend athletic games on the Island at the summer clubhouse of the New York Athletic Club. The photograph shows the old clubhouse on the

Monday, March 23, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.I have published many items on the Historic Pelham Blog regarding the spectacle of "coaching to Pelham" in four-in-hand carriages during the 1870s and 1880s. Col. Delancey Kane began the practice during the 1870s. Many followed in his footsteps. To read a little

Friday, March 20, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Those who follow the Historic Pelham Blog know that I have posted numerous items regarding early organized baseball in Pelham. In fact, I have written extensively on the topic. Among the material I have prepared on the topic are the following:Monday, November 26,

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Today's Pelham Split Rock Golf Club, consisting of the Pelham Bay Golf Course and the Split Rock Golf Course, sits on land that once was part of the Town of Pelham before annexation by New York City in 1896. The narrow, tree-lined Split Rock Golf Course opened in

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Recently I provided a little information on the closure of the White Hotel in the late 19th century. See Thursday, March 12, 2009: The Reason the White Hotel Was Shut Down and Split from One Building Into Two Cottages. Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1899 and 1900, as companies worked hard to cover the region with trolley tracks to improve mass transit, efforts were underway to develop a trolley line along Shore Road to move thousands of passengers to the recreational center and amusement park on Glen Island.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Frederick Carles Merry was a well-known architect and civil engineer in New York City during the late 19th century. For a number of years he lived in Pelham Manor. While there he designed the original clubhouse of the Manor Club, Pelham Hall, the Pelhamville School

Friday, March 13, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.While researching another topic, I recently ran across an unusual item in the New-York Tribune published on February 17, 1900. The item describes a benefit staged by the Junior Association at the Manor Club on February 16, 1900 to raise funds for the "Summer School

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Two similar-looking buildings sit side-by-side at 303 Wolfs Lane and 307 Wolfs Lane. Their similarities are no coincidence. They once were part of the same building, the White Hotel.The White Hotel was a "hostelry" built in about 1870. By the late 1890s, New York

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.I repeatedly have written about Benjamin L. Fairchild of Pelham who served as a member of Congress. See, e.g.:Friday, December 7, 2007: Another Biography of Congressman Benjamin Fairchild of Pelham, a Founder of Pelham Heights.Friday, April 22, 2005: Benjamin L.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.The Manor Club, it seems, had an odd history of stricken women found on its steps in its early years. I previously have written of one such incident. See Wednesday, December 28, 2005: The Mystery of the "Manor Club Girl" That Set Pelham Tongues Wagging in 1913.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.I have written before about the long tradition of golf in Pelham Manor. See, e.g., The Early Days of Golf in Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 36, Sept. 10, 2004, p. 12, col. 2. On January 14, 2008, I posted to the Historic Pelham Blog an item that appeared

Friday, March 6, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.During the late 19th century, the Pelham Manor Depot stood at the end of the Esplanade where I-95 now passes. The Depot served passengers on the Branch Line, most of whom commuted to work in New York City. Inside the Depot was the Village Post Office.On September

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1894, three years after incorporation of the Village of Pelham Manor, the tiny Village arranged for a more reliable water supply. At the time, the Village was engaged in a major effort to modernize its streets by grading and paving them. A brief item on these

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.The New York Athletic Club celebrated "Ladies' Day" at its summer clubhouse on Travers Island annually in the late 19th century. I previously have written of this grand, annual event. See Thursday, April 28, 2005: Ladies' Day on Travers Island in the 19th

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1888, a New York City newspaper known as the New-York Tribune participated in efforts to raise money for the Fresh-Air Fund to fund scholarships for New York City children to attend camp for two weeks in the country. Boys and girls throughout the region worked

Monday, March 2, 2009

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Though the recorded history of Pelham Manor began in the 17th century, for nearly two centuries the population of the area centered around the shore of Long Island Sound with later pockets that developed near such transportation arteries as the Boston Post Road and